IBM has begun shipping chips for the Wii to Nintendo

“IBM Corp. says it has begun shipping processor chips for Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s forthcoming video game console, to be called Wii.

Many of the details are still shrouded in secrecy, but the deal gives IBM the triple crown in suppling the key brain chips for the latest versions of the three leading video game consoles: the Wii, Sony Corp.’s forthcoming PlayStation 3, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360.”

IBM has really pulled off quite the trifecta in securing contracts for creating the CPU’s of all three console manufactures.

“We have been shipping well within this quarter (July),” said Ron Martino, director of IBM Technology Collaboration Solutions. “In fact, we have shipped a significant volume in this quarter.”

Well, it seems Nintendo, unlike Sony, will have no shortage problems with the Revolution Wii.

“The details of the Nintendo chip, code-named Broadway, are being kept under wraps.

‘The first chips are in our possession,’ said Genyo Takeda, senior managing director for Nintendo’s Integrated Research and Development Division. ‘Today’s milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience.’

IBM only says the chip is 20 percent more power-efficient than the first game chip it began making for Nintendo in 1999, which was called Gekko.

This once again confirms Nintendo’s insistence that graphics aren’t everything. They have decided to focus more on efficiency than power, the interesting thing to look out for is whether gamers or the casual audience Nintendo hopes to intice into buying their new system agrees with their philosophy of “Innovation over Power”.

One thing is for certain, this is going to be a very interesting console war. Will gamers flock to the consoles with the glitz and glamour, or decide innovation really is more important than graphics? We’ll all find out soon enough.